WHY COURT TROUBLE ON TRIVIALITIES?

Laws are there to protect us. Unfortunately, some people, for vested interest, are taking that advantage of loopholes in the system and bending it to suit their purpose

The role law plays is one of the tenants of our democracy, and one that we are all justifiable proud of. We have laws for everything. So many of them, that jurists say today, that it's almost impossible to live a life, any life indeed without unconsciously falling foul to one of many myriad and complex laws. Many of our laws are ancient and don't really match up to modern reality. Some of the new laws being introduced are being hastily crafted leading to problems in their implementation due to ambiguities.

As for our courts, the delays in giving a decision is nothing new. Most cases don't even stand a chance of being heard, leave alone decided for decades. Adjournments, appeals and the bench not sitting today are only a few excuses used to create delays.

If this was not enough, people also add to the burden of the cases in courts. Filing frivolous cases has become a norm. Politicians are amongst those who use this on each other with ease. A glaring instance that has just reached a resolution makes this whole process rather obvious. With Veer Bahadur Singh firmly in the saddle in Himachal Pradesh, his former colleague and fellow party rival has now withdrawn a bunch of cases. One of them had even helped to unseat Singh from his position in the Cabinet. Several litigations, many legal hours spent and unrelenting publicity, all comes to a naught. It makes a mockery out of our Judiciary.

Last week, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav was possibly given a virtual clean chit in a disproportionate assets case. This means that the Government and its agencies also use the law, the lawyers and courts to their advantage. Several agencies are known to misuse the power they have. Mulayam Singh and BSP chief Mayawati have been at the receiving end of it. They will be kept in a limbo only to be used as a leverage during election time. This game that politicians pay affects the common man - he has to pay for the wrong doings of politicians. The politicians for mutual gains misuse the various agencies for personal gains. Everybody knows that laws are bent for those in power.

The ease with which cases are filed in courts against those who don't have a godfather is frightening. The number of false cases being filed, especially when it comes to divorce is not good. There is enough evidence to prove that most of the cases have been filed just to harass the person than to just get justice. Too many greedy girls and their parents are misusing a law that has been enacted to protect the vulnerable.

Denial of justice taunts those who have no been heard. They are left to not only live with the injustice they face but also the fact that the perpetrator continues to roam free. Take the case of Arushi, Geetika - the high profile Haryana MLA Kanda case or even the Bhanwari Devi murder case - all are crying for justice but there is no solution for now. So, where lies the fault. Are we becoming a nation where we knock the doors of the court in the smallest of matters? Or is it the law that has become ineffective like some jurists opine? Or is the legal system slow because it is over burdened? Are there any answers to these questions? We certainly need some answers. Or else it will damage the society and people will lose faith in the judiciary shaking the foundation of our country.